Chapter 8: The Third Key
Nobody spoke.
The mansion above them had gone silent.
Too silent.
Luca held the brass key between his fingers.
“Where is the third key?””
Victoria stared at him.
“I don't know.””
“You said there were three.””
“I know.””
“Then where is it?””
She looked toward Daniel.
Daniel smiled.
“You're asking the wrong person.””
Luca turned.
“Then who should I ask?””
Daniel's eyes moved toward Evelyn.
Luca's mother immediately shook her head.
“No.””
Luca stepped toward her.
“You know.””
“I know where it was.””
“Where?””
“Your father's study.””
Luca looked at the steel door.
“The silver key opens that room.””
Evelyn nodded.
“And the black key opens the vault.””
Luca held up the brass key.
“What does this open?””
She didn't answer.
“Mom.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“The room where your father kept his most dangerous records.””
Adrian said quietly, “The archive.””
Luca looked at him.
“Where?””
“Behind the vault.””
A sudden noise came from the staircase.
Everyone turned.
Someone was walking down.
Slowly.
One step.
Then another.
Luca grabbed Victoria's arm.
“Stay here.””
She pulled away.
“I can take care of myself.””
“You nearly shot someone.””
“He attacked me.””
Daniel laughed.
“You were pointing a gun at me.””
Victoria glared at him.
“You deserved worse.””
Luca raised his hand.
“Both of you, stop.””
The footsteps continued.
Evelyn whispered, “It can't be.””
Luca looked at her.
“Who?””
She didn't answer.
The final step creaked.
A figure appeared.
Marcus.
His white shirt was stained with blood.
Luca rushed toward him.
“Marcus.””
Marcus grabbed the railing.
“They're inside.””
“Who?””
“The guests.””
Luca frowned.
“What?””
“They weren't guests.””
Victoria's face went pale.
Marcus looked at her.
“Most of them.””
Daniel smiled.
“I told you.””
Luca turned toward the stairs.
“How many?””
“Ten. Maybe twelve.””
“Armed?””
Marcus nodded.
“They came for the vault.””
Luca looked at Victoria.
“You knew.””
“No.””
“You knew they were coming.””
“I didn't.””
“Then why are they here?””
Victoria looked at the floor.
“I don't know.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Because someone sent them the invitation.””
Luca stared.
“Who?””
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
She whispered, “Your father.””
“He's dead.””
“His network isn't.””
A crash exploded upstairs.
Then another.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“We need to move.””
Luca looked at Adrian.
“Can you run?””
Adrian nodded.
“Then we're going through the vault.””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
Luca looked at her.
“What?””
“You can't.””
“Why?””
“Because the vault has a biometric lock.””
“I know.””
“No.””
She stared at him.
“It doesn't recognize you.””
Luca frowned.
“It was built for my father.””
“Exactly.””
She stepped closer.
“It doesn't open for blood relatives.””
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Then who?””
Victoria didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Your mother.””
Evelyn's face tightened.
Luca looked at her.
“You can open it?””
She nodded.
“But only once.””
“Why?””
“Because your father designed it to destroy the records after the first opening.””
Luca stared at the vault.
“You're saying the evidence could disappear.””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
“Three minutes.””
“Then we have three minutes.””
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
“We may not even have that.””
Another crash.
Men shouted above them.
Luca turned to his mother.
“Open it.””
She hesitated.
“Luca…”
“Open it.””
Evelyn stepped toward the vault.
She pressed her palm against a black panel.
A red light appeared.
Then turned green.
The wall clicked.
A hidden door opened.
Cold air rushed out.
Inside was a narrow room filled with shelves.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Paper files.
Photographs.
Newspapers.
Luca stepped inside.
His father's entire secret life was stored there.
He reached for the nearest folder.
The label read:
*PROJECT EVELYN — 2008*
His hand froze.
“Mom.””
Evelyn looked away.
Luca opened it.
Inside were photographs of his mother.
Pregnant.
Standing beside another man.
The man looked remarkably like Adrian.
Luca turned the next page.
There was a birth certificate.
Adrian's name.
The father's name had been blacked out.
But beneath the ink was a second document.
A DNA test.
Luca read the result.
*99.98% probability of biological relationship.*
He looked at Adrian.
“Who is your father?””
Adrian stared at the document.
“I don't know.””
Luca turned another page.
There was a photograph of the same man.
His face had been circled in red.
Beneath it:
*Nathaniel Cross.*
Daniel went completely still.
Luca looked at him.
“Cross?””
Daniel's face had changed.
“Yes.””
“Your father?””
Daniel nodded.
Luca's eyes widened.
“You're Adrian's brother.””
Daniel didn't answer.
Adrian stared at him.
“You knew.””
Daniel finally spoke.
“I knew the truth.””
“You let me rot down here.””
“I was protecting the family.””
“You were protecting yourself.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Your father killed Nathaniel.””
Adrian stepped toward him.
“And you helped him.””
“I was seventeen.””
“You still helped him.””
“I had no choice.””
Victoria suddenly shouted, “Stop!””
Everyone turned.
She was staring at another file.
Luca opened it.
The cover had one word.
*VICTORIA.*
Inside was a photograph of Victoria as a teenager.
Standing beside Luca's father.
Luca looked at her.
“What is this?””
Victoria's face collapsed.
“I was supposed to kill you.””
Silence.
Luca stared.
“What?””
“When?””
“The night we met.””
“You were supposed to kill me?””
She shook her head.
“I couldn't.””
“Why?””
“Because you looked at me the way no one had ever looked at me.””
Luca's voice was cold.
“So you fell in love with the man you were sent to murder.””
Victoria nodded.
“And your father found out.””
“What did he do?””
“He gave me a choice.””
“What choice?””
“Marry you.””
Luca's expression hardened.
“And spy on me.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“To find out whether you had your father's files.””
“And now?””
Victoria looked toward the vault.
“Now everyone knows you do.””
A red light suddenly began flashing.
Evelyn's face went pale.
“Three minutes.””
Luca looked at the shelves.
“What happens?””
“The archive burns.””
Marcus looked toward the entrance.
“We need to leave.””
“No.””
Luca grabbed the files.
“We're taking everything.””
“You can't.””
“Watch me.””
He stuffed folders into a leather case.
Adrian helped.
Daniel stood frozen.
Victoria picked up the photograph of Luca's father and stared at it.
Luca noticed.
“Why are you looking at that?””
She turned it over.
On the back was another message.
Her face went white.
“What?””
She handed it to him.
Written in his father's handwriting were six words:
*Victoria was never my final choice.*
Luca frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Victoria looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered, “Oh God.””
“What?””
Evelyn pointed toward the photograph.
“Look at the background.””
Luca examined it.
Behind his father and Victoria's father stood a third person.
A woman.
Half-hidden.
But unmistakable.
Luca stared.
It was Elena.
Much younger.
Standing beside them.
He slowly turned.
Elena was crying.
“I can explain.””
Luca's voice was barely audible.
“How old were you?””
Elena wiped her face.
“Seventeen.””
“Why were you there?””
May you like
She looked toward the burning red light.
“Because I was the one who gave your father the third key.””
